The troublem fer me with throwin' in with the Grits is the Grits weren't exactly Kyoto-compliant when they were callin' the shots. When it comes t' green action, I don't reckon Greens care who does it.

I hate to be that guy, but this is exactly the type of comment that shouldn't be made. It shouldn't matter if shes the most beautiful thing on earth or the ugliest, but this fixation with the appearance of women in politics is one of the reasons that many women don't want to enter public life.

People's views are changed all the time, Ti-guy. I am expressing an opinion as a blogger, as well as a moderator.

Maybe, I should try to communicate better and be less on the offense...

So, let me speak for myself. BCL, some of your posts offend me as a woman. I believe they offend others too. They seem to suggest that women have little to contribute other than their appearance. Would you consider this?

p.s. I am not policing you - I have no power beyond my voice that I know of.

This week I have offended Albertans, certain women, a number of gays, and an honest to goodness witch. So if I were to start worrying too much about THAT, then I could probably never write anything again.

Now, one of the anons mentioned that this is the kind of statement (Briony's pretty hot) that "shouldn't be made". Well of course it should! All things being equal, an attractive female candidate has an advantage over an ugly one. But this also applies to a certain degree among men. Why else do you see so many male politicians with fake tans, black hair but SILVER sideburns? What do you think Tudeaumania was about? His "ideas"? Baloney! NDP women thought he was hot! (my old poli sci teacher at UVIC, who had once been an NDP organizer, used to tell stories about this).

Furthermore, in my own defense, I have been equally superficial about male politicians. This blog is one of the few places where you can find Scott Brison's nude shot, and I once wrote about whether or not G. Kennedy was too sexxy to lead the Liberals (turned out he was).

Now of course Briony (whose career I am actually a little bit familiar with (including her Lady Godiva ride)because I used to live in that area) will also achieve star qualities as a candidate because she is thoroughly familiar with environmental issues. But you can read about that anywhere. I'm more interested that FORBIDDEN political knowledge.